Production of ethanol from mannitol by the yeast strain Saccharomyces paradoxus NBRC 0259.

Mannitol is a promising marine macroalgal carbon source. However, organisms that produce ethanol from mannitol are limited; to date, only the yeast Pichia angophorae and the bacterium Escherichia coli KO11 have been reported to possess this capacity. In this study, we searched a yeast strain with a high capacity to produce ethanol from mannitol and selected Saccharomyces paradoxus NBRC 0259 for its ability to produce ethanol from mannitol. This ability was enhanced after a 3-day cultivation of this strain in medium containing mannitol; the enhanced strain was renamed S. paradoxus NBRC 0259-3. We compared the ability of strain NBRC 0259-3 to produce ethanol from mannitol and glucose, under several conditions, with those of P. angophorae and E. coli KO11. As a result, we concluded that S. paradoxus NBRC 0259-3 strain is the most suitable yeast strain for the production of ethanol from mannitol

Microbial regulation of nitrogen dynamics along the hillslope of a natural forest

Topography affects the soil physicochemistry, soil N dynamics, and plant distribution and growth in forests. In Japan, many forests are found in mountainous areas and these traits are often highly variable along steep slopes. In this study, we investigated how the microbial population dynamics reflected the bioavailable N dynamics with the physicochemical gradient along the slope in soils of a natural forest in Japan. We measured the gross rates of NH[+4] production, nitrification, and NH[+4]/ NO[−3] immobilization using the N isotope dilution method to analyze the N dynamics in the soils. We also determined the abundance of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and bacterial and archaeal ammonia monooxygenase gene (amoA) using qPCR to assess the populations of total bacteria and nitrifiers. We found that gross rates of NH[+4] production and nitrification were higher in the lower part of the slope, they were positively correlated with the abundance of the bacterial 16S rRNA gene and archaeal amoA, respectively; and the availability of N, particularly NO[−3], for plants was higher in the lower part of the slope because of the higher microbial nitrification activity and low microbial NO[−3]immobilization activity. In addition, path analysis indicated that gross rates of NH[+4] production and nitrification were regulated mainly by the substrate (dissolved organic N and NH[+4]) concentrations and population sizes of total bacteria and nitrifiers, respectively, and their population sizes were strongly affected by the soil physicochemistry such as pH and water content. Our results suggested that the soil physicochemical gradient along the slope caused the spatial gradient of gross rates of NH[+4] production and nitrification by altering the communities of ammonifiers and nitrifiers in the forest slope, which also affected plant distribution and growth via the supply of bioavailable N to plants

CFAP70 Is a Novel Axoneme-Binding Protein That Localizes at the Base of the Outer Dynein Arm and Regulates Ciliary Motility

In the present study, we characterized CFAP70, a candidate of cilia-related protein in mice. As this protein has a cluster of tetratricopeptide repeat (TPR) domains like many components of the intraflagellar transport (IFT) complex, we investigated the domain functions of particular interest in ciliary targeting and/or localization. RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry of various mouse tissues demonstrated the association of CFAP70 with motile cilia and flagella. A stepwise extraction of proteins from swine tracheal cilia showed that CFAP70 bound tightly to the ciliary axoneme. Fluorescence microscopy of the cultured ependyma expressing fragments of CFAP70 demonstrated that the N-terminus rather than the C-terminus with the TPR domains was more important for the ciliary localization. When CFAP70 was knocked down in cultured mouse ependyma, reductions in cilia beating frequency were observed. Consistent with these observations, a Chlamydomonas mutant lacking the CFAP70 homolog, FAP70, showed defects in outer dynein arm (ODA) activity and a reduction in flagellar motility. Cryo-electron tomography revealed that the N-terminus of FAP70 resided stably at the base of the ODA. These results demonstrated that CFAP70 is a novel regulatory component of the ODA in motile cilia and flagella, and that the N-terminus is important for its ciliary localization

A study of mode purity improvement in the ITER relevant transmission line

In JAEA, mode conversion by corrugated waveguide system which is ITER relevant TL system was studied. To evaluate the alignment method for TL assembly, the mode content of middle section of TL was measured while assembly of the TL test stand. Then 5% of LP01 mode purity degradation was found in the long straight section though it was just assembly of 2m straight WGs. Indeed, the mode conversion calculation showed that 5% of mode conversion may occur when the straight section causes 1.0 mm of periodic deflection. To minimize the deflection, the alignment method with adjustment of both position and angle of the WG piece utilizing the laser beam reflection was applied for the TL re-assembling. The mode purity in the same section was improved and mode purity degradation was less than 1%. Finally 93% of LP01 mode purity was achieved at the end of long TL. Next the effect of mode purity by high-power long-pulse operation in TL was studied. Since the TL components are heated during the high-power RF operation, the TL causes deformation due to thermal expansion and deformed TL section induces significant mode conversion loss. The 170GHz gyrotron provided high-power (400kW) and long pulse (500sec) into TL and the beam profile at TL end was measured both before and after the long pulse operation. The mode purity at TL end was 91% before the long pulse and it decreased to 84% after the pulse. The temperature distribution and displacement of TL components were also measured. The measured displacement shows that the vertical sections became S-bend structures and mode conversion loss was estimated. The estimated total mode conversion loss in deformed long TL system was 8%. The estimated value showed good agreement with measurement of mode purity

A study of mode purity improvement in the ITER relevant transmission line

In JAEA, mode conversion by corrugated waveguide system which is ITER relevant TL system was studied. To evaluate the alignment method for TL assembly, the mode content of middle section of TL was measured while assembly of the TL test stand. Then 5% of LP01 mode purity degradation was found in the long straight section though it was just assembly of 2m straight WGs. Indeed, the mode conversion calculation showed that 5% of mode conversion may occur when the straight section causes 1.0 mm of periodic deflection. To minimize the deflection, the alignment method with adjustment of both position and angle of the WG piece utilizing the laser beam reflection was applied for the TL re-assembling. The mode purity in the same section was improved and mode purity degradation was less than 1%. Finally 93% of LP01 mode purity was achieved at the end of long TL. Next the effect of mode purity by high-power long-pulse operation in TL was studied. Since the TL components are heated during the high-power RF operation, the TL causes deformation due to thermal expansion and deformed TL section induces significant mode conversion loss. The 170GHz gyrotron provided high-power (400kW) and long pulse (500sec) into TL and the beam profile at TL end was measured both before and after the long pulse operation. The mode purity at TL end was 91% before the long pulse and it decreased to 84% after the pulse. The temperature distribution and displacement of TL components were also measured. The measured displacement shows that the vertical sections became S-bend structures and mode conversion loss was estimated. The estimated total mode conversion loss in deformed long TL system was 8%. The estimated value showed good agreement with measurement of mode purity

A study on the macroscopic self-organized structure of high-power millimeter-wave breakdown plasma

Air breakdown plasma induced by a strong electromagnetic (EM) wave field with a millimeter wavelength has a self-formed filamentary structure. The scale of the breakdown plasma is much larger than the wavelength scale, and the power density is lower than the self-ignition threshold of atmospheric breakdown. We observed a breakdown plasma that consisted of small plasma spots, and their trajectory was identical to that of the filamentary structure observed macroscopically. The numerical analysis showed that the interaction of the ionization front, EM field, and neutral-gas heating determines the self-organized structure of the branching plasma. The plasma trajectory identified in the analysis was identical to that of the experimental results. This novel physical process was entirely different from the discrete filament formation observed in the breakdown plasma formed under a focused beam, and the physical process of the breakdown strongly depended on the scale and power density